Quenching of Nonrelativistic $p$-Wave Spin Splitting by Reduced $c\text{-}f$ Coupling in $\text{CeNiAsO}$

Abstract

The application of spin-space group symmetries to noncollinear antiferromagnets has led to the prediction of odd-parity, nonrelativistic spin splittings, making the physical realization of a practical $p$-wave magnet a central pursuit in spintronics. The layered heavy-fermion oxypnictide $\text{CeNiAsO}$ has been widely regarded as a prototypical platform to verify this paradigm. Here, we investigate the electronic structure of single-crystal $\text{CeNiAsO}$ using high-resolution, ultra-low-temperature and resonant angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and $ab-initio$ calculations. Across the consecutive magnetic transitions into the ordered phases, our spectroscopic data reveal neither the expected band folding associated with a spin density wave nor any observable $p$-wave spin splitting, demonstrating that the conduction bands retain full degeneracy. By tracking the temperature dependence of the Ce 4$f$ spectral weight via resonant ARPES, we find negligible $c\text{-}f$ hybridization near the Fermi level within magnetically ordered states, confirming that the Ce 4$f$ electrons reside close to the localized limit. Our findings establish a clear many-body constraint on the projection of real-space magnetic symmetries onto momentum-space electronic bands, demonstrating that symmetry classifications constitute a necessary framework but are not a sufficient condition for nonrelativistic spin splittings in the presence of strong electronic correlations.

7 pages, 4 figures